Mortal Kombat: Reckoning
by EmperorDraco7
Summary: Mortal Kombat: the tournament for the preservation of life in the Earthrealm. A few different choices will lead to a very different outcome for the warriors opposing Shao Kahn and his invasion... Liu Kang/Kitana, Johnny Cage/Sonya.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Mortal Kombat is the property of Netherealm Studios, formerly known as Midway. It is a shame that Midway went bankrupt after Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe came out and it's glad that the creators of MK are still around. Also I should warn you that this chapter will contain spoilers for those who don't know about the MK story or played any of the MK games so I think for those who haven't, you should click the back button as this will explain the events of Mortal Kombat to Mortal Kombat Armageddon.

Mortal Kombat Reckoning

By EmperorDraco7

Mortal Kombat…. is not about death but the preservation of life, for millennium the forces of light and darkness fought for the fate of Earthrealm. Some seek to use the tournament to destroy all that is good while others seek vengeance, power or eternal life. The Outworld Emperor Shao Kahn has sent his sorcerer Shang Tsung to unbalance the furies in order to allow Outworld to take control of Earthrealm and it ultimately led to 9 Outworld victories and one more will allow Kahn to finally take the opposing realm as his own.

However his take-over of Earthrealm was put to a temporary end when Liu Kang and his allies defeated Shang Tsung and Shokan Prince Goro after many tough battles on Tsung's island fortress. According to the sacred rule, their home realm would remain safe for one more generation. Though that wouldn't stop the Emperor in any way as he lured his enemies to Outworld to compete in a tournament of his own, knowing that he will have the advantage due to it taking place in his own realm but in the end, his plans were once again thwarted by the efforts of Liu Kang and his allies.

Kahn was still determined to take control of Earthrealm as he decided that it was time to bring his beloved Queen Sindel back to life in that realm, enacting a plan that had begun millennia before, and upon doing so, he began his invasion at full force. He actually almost succeeded in merging the two realms into one however there were souls that the Emperor couldn't take as those souls belonged to the warriors of Earthrealm who once more bring an end to the plans of Outworld and save their realm though Johnny Cage was killed by an Extermination Squad prior to the defeat of Kahn.

With Earthrealm and Edenia freed from Kahn's reign, both realms thought that there would be peace however the fallen Elder God Shinnok had escaped from the Netherealm after the defeat of Outworld and had tried to finish where he left off years ago, starting with the attack on Edenia. He soon turns his attention towards Earthrealm and vowed to get revenge on Raiden for his previous defeat but is threat came to a halt with the efforts of Earth's defenders along with the assistance of a revived Johnny Cage. As a reward for saving the realms from Shinnok, Raiden was given the status of an Elder God and he chooses Fujin to take his place in protecting Earthrealm from future threats.

The peace made by Shinnok's defeat was only temporary as Quan Chi escaped from the Netherealm to Outworld and had not only discovered the undefeatable army of Outworld's original emperor… Onaga the Dragon but had also formed a Deadly Alliance with Shang Tsung in order to conquer the two realms. However first things first, they kill not only Shao Kahn but also Earthrealm's Champion Liu Kang so that neither of them would stand in the way of their ultimate mission though they never knew that the Shao Kahn they killed was actually a clone of the real one who had created it in order to fool his enemies during the time Edenia and the Shokan had joined forces to fight against his rule. Upon finding out what was happening, Raiden relinquished his status of Elder God in order to return to Earth and gather his most trusted allies for a confrontation against the two sorcerers. Even Kitana and Bo Rai Cho joined forces with their Earthrealm allies in order to defeat Shang Tsung and Quan Chi unfortunately they failed to defeat the Deadly Alliance and only Raiden stood in the way but falls to their power as well. Bo Rai Cho was able to save a girl named Li Mei who was forced to enter a tournament held by the sorcerers and almost had her soul used to revive the mummified army of the Dragon King as soon as she emerged victorious in the tournament.

Their victory was short lived as they found themselves turning on each other, ending the Deadly Alliance and much to their dismay…. Onaga had somehow returned to the world of the living as Reptile was searching for Nitara as she was to blame for the supposed death of his master only to be bit by a powerful beam that came out of the hatching Dragon Egg. This led to a new alliance between Raiden, Tsung and Quan Chi as they tried to work together in order to defeat the all power Dragon King but to no avail. With no other option, Raiden sacrificed himself in one final attempt to defeat this new foe however it had little effect on Onaga as he survived the attempt and takes the amulet from Quan Chi and he resurrects Kitana, Jax, Kung Lao, Sonya and Cage while placing them under his control.

As he gained the loyalty of Tanya, Hotaru, Mileena, Baraka and the Tarkatan Hordes, a man known as Shujinko has blamed himself for having unknowingly helped Onaga in collecting all 6 powerful items called the Kamidogu and the Earthrealm, the Netherealm, the Chaosrealm, Outworld, the Orderealm and Edenia all made up the consciousness of an entity called the One Being which had fed off of the Elder Gods since before the existence of the realms. With the help of Ermac and the spirit of Liu Kang, the brainwashed-Kitana, Sonya, Cage, Jax and Kung Lao were freed from the control of Onaga and with the help of their allies, Shujinko destroyed the Kamidogu before they can be merged together into one while Nightwolf banishes the powerful emperor into the Netherealm to end his threat for good.

Though it was short-lived as the being Blaze was freed from where he was held in once the Dragon Egg had hatched and he had informed Kitana about the coming of Armageddon as well as that she needed to gather all of her friends and allies for the final battle to decide the fate of all that exists. While this happened, the Edenian God Taven was freed from hibernation and discovers that he must go on a quest to prepare for the upcoming battle with Blaze on top of his palace though he learns that his younger brother Daegon was accidentally released early and had formed the Red Dragon while at the same time killing his and Taven's parents in the process.

Throughout his journey, Taven discovers that Raiden had been corrupted and is allowing Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi and Onaga to proceed with their desire to conquer all the realms in exchange for Earthrealm being spared. Upon defeating Raiden, he proceeds to also defeating his evil brother Daegon once and for all in Edenia before preparing for the final battle with Blaze on top of the pyramid but unfortunately he fails due to Shao Kahn intervening and takes down the powerful entity himself while killing anyone who stood in his way. Now only Raiden and Shao Kahn remain as the final battle is about to take place.

A/Ns: Well here it is… I hope you like it as I'm new to writing a Mortal Kombat fic and originally I was going to do Mortal Kombat Conquest and then the events of the original MK games from MK1 to Armageddon but since I've tried out MK9…. I've changed my plans and this ends up being the main result. I will hope to do more for the story soon if I don't have other plans.


	2. It Begins Anew

Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Kombat or any of the characters, all of them are the property of Netherealm Studios and I am rather curious on how the upcoming Mortal Kombat X game will affect the series with the new characters that will be introduced, more so with five familar ones returning for it (Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Goro and Kano so far) and it is not known if there will be other returning fighters for this upcoming sequel to MK9.

Mortal Kombat Reckoning

It Begins Anew

By EmperorDraco7 and co-written by Lily Nadesico

It was a long and brutal battle, however in the end… nothing remained but dead bodies as the forces of light and the forces of darkness all lay lifeless within a wasteland that was once a battlefield for a final battle with vultures being the only living beings left. Yet despite this, one very last fight was taking place near the pyramid that resided within the realm and the last two survivors Raiden, the God of Thunder and former protector of Earthrealm along with the Emperor of Outworld Shao Kahn, were at the very top to decide the fate of everything in existence.

Unfortunately, the fight was in Kahn's favor as he grinned at the corrupted Thunder God lying on the ground before him. "Where are the Elder Gods, Raider?" he asked, grabbing his enemy by the throat and picking him up. "Their pathetic Mortal Kombat shackles me no longer!" He then punched Raiden in the face four times before throwing him aside and watched as the amulet he had held in his possession fell to the ground, slowly shattering to pieces upon contact. "They masquerade as Dragons but are mere Toothless Worms…"

Raiden tried his best to get up but was unable to do so due to the wounds he had received during the final battle between the forces of light and the forces of darkness and all he could do is watch as Kahn produced his war hammer and started glowing bright orange with power after putting his foot onto Raider's chest. "My venom spreads… it is the end of all things…. Armageddon"

"Stop…" Raiden spoke up, mentally cursing the Emperor with every part of his battered body and is then picked up by the collar this time.

"It is done… your time has passed…" he told his foe, tossing him to the other side of the area where the powerful entity Blaze had been fought on. "Ages wasted in foolish resistance… now is the dawn of my rule…" Barely getting up to his knees, he saw the remains of his amulet and knew that all was lost, though there was still one last resort if he was to save the realms... whispering an ancient chant as he picked up several of the pieces with one hand, sparking with blue electricity. "Yes, pray to the worms Raiden… as your world end…"

As Shao Kahn is about to land the killing blow upon Raiden with his war hammer, the Thunder God, with his eyes changing from red to blue, muttered his last words before the weapon made contact. "He must win…"

Shao Kahn's war hammer was about to descend and end Raiden's life… when the fragments of his amulet esplode outwards in a shower of blue light, consuming everything in a blinding brilliance! The God of Thunder felt his consciousness separate from his body and be sucked into a tunnel of pure light, flashes of white and blue speeding all around him as images of the past appeared in front of him and disappeared a split second later. Raiden could see all of his comrades, all those who had fallen in battle against Shao Kahn and the rest of the forces of Outworld and all other supernatural enemies they had faced during their long journey…

* * *

><p>The images flashed faster and faster, overwhelming Raiden's consciousness… and at last, it all disappeared in a flash, and Raiden found himself in a large chamber, along with a group of other warriors who were all waiting for the Mortal Kombat competition to begin! Liu Kang, his best and most trusted pupil, turned his glance at him as he saw Raiden blink and put an hand to his forehead, trying to shake off the dizziness…<p>

"Lord Raiden? What is wrong?" Liu Kang, the chosen fighter of the Shaolin monks, asked the God of Thunder.

Raiden shook his head, trying to assuage his pupil. "Strange visions…" he answered, before looking down and seeing that his amulet was now intact, as if it had never shattered in the first place. That was the confirmation he was looking for… his last desperate attempt to avert disaster had bore fruit. He had managed to travel back in time with the knowledge of the future. Now he did have a chance to stop Shao Kahn's rule from taking over the whole universe…

"Your amulet…?" Liu Kang asked, looking at Raiden's amulet with some puzzlement. Raiden let out a breath and turned to his best pupil once again.

"It is nothing, Liu Kang. The tournament begins."

With that, two groups of figures clad in white dresses entered from the sides of the large chambre the fighters were gathered in, with the dull, rhytmic beat of the drums announcing the opening cerimony of the Mortal Kombat tournament. All the contestants took their place in the audience and stood in front of the host of the tournament – an ancient-looking man with long grey hair, beard and moustache, dressed in the elegant cloche of some sort of Chinese sage. There was no need for introductions, at least not for Raiden: that one was Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn's favored servant and the master mind behind Shao Kahn's plan to under mine the Mortal Kombat tournament. He looked at the contestants with his glowing, pupilless eyes before addressing them all.

"Greetings, combatants. I am Shang Tsung." The soul-stealing sorceror began, with Kitana, Jade and Baraka standing at his sides, like a group of bodyguards. "In the coming days, each of you will fight. Some are here of their own volition. Others were brought here by chance."

Among the contestants, Johnny Cage, the rampant Hollywood actor dressed in an elegant suit and sunglasses, turned to a young blonde woman in her mid-twenties in a military uniform. "Hey beautiful. Johnny Cage." He greeted her in his most charming way.

"Good for you." Sonya Blade answered in a deadpan manner.

"What? Massive Strike? Citizen Cage? Ninja Mime? None of those ring a bell?"

Sonya paid no attention to Cage's comment and was focused more on the two men that were just arriving at the Courtyard, one was the Black Dragon Ninja known as Tremor and the other made her scowl as she saw the leader of the organization itself. "Kano..." she said, catching the movie star's attention with a hint of slight confusion.

"Kano? Wasn't in that one..." he said, again she didn't pay attention to him and continued giving a darkend glare at the man known as Kano.

"You partecipate in the most important Mortal Kombat in history." Shang Tsung went on. "This tournament, held after nine annual victories, will determine Earthrealm's fate. If you defeat all of your opponent, you will face one final challenge. Me."

"Hah! That old geezer is the final challenge?" Johnny Cage answered with a shrug and a mocking chuckle. "They might as well give me the belt right now, they do have belts right?" it was then that he saw that Shang Tsung was now behind him without making even a single sound, catching the movie star off guard. "What? How did you..."

"Appearances can be deceiving..." said Tsung, hoving back to the throne that he was one standing in front of via his sorcerry as he announced the first fight in this tournament "Our first combatant will be Mr. Cage!"

Looking more than willing to win this, Cage took a quick glance at Sonya, finding her very attractive and then made his way towards the fighting arena and was curious on who his opponent is going to be, believing that it would be one of the chumps that were present. "Yeah! That's right, that's right! Whose it gonna be?" he asked

Yet Tsung had a grin on his face as he revealed the identity of the movie the cocky star's opponent in this round of the tournament. "Reptile!" Appearing from out of nowhere, a mysterious combatant jumped from the roof behind the stands and landed on his feet, right in front of Cage, who was rather impressed by how the reptilian-like ninja was able to do that as the monks applauded this appearance.

"Nice stunt" said Cage, thinking that it was a trick that was made through special effects, like those used in movie studios and finds himself looking forward to the match at hand. "Whose your agent?"

Yet Reptile remained completelty silent as he awaited Shang Tsung's words. "Begin!" he said, a sign for the two to begin the fight

"Alright, it's showtime!" grinned Cage, the two of them went into fighting poses as the tournament officially began and Raiden silently watched to see how good this movie star is against a warrior from Outworld as Earthrealm's continued existence depends on their victory against Shang green-clad reptilian assassin took a fighting stance, his arms moving like a couple of snakes poised to strike, and his cat-like green eyes narrowed dangerously at Johnny Cage.

"Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?" he murmured, feeling rather pleased to be able to quote one of his favorite series of movies. Reptile seemed to smile behind his face mask, taking a careful step around his opponent in order to test his defences.

"Ssssso…" Reptile spoke with a lisp, as though a snake had actually learned to speak human language somehow. "Thissss one issss the fool who thinkssss he can repressssent the Earthrealm in thisssss Mortal Kombat? Ssssuch wasssste of fighting talent in one sssso unwissssse. There issss much more to Mortal Kombat than you might imagine, whelp!"

Johnny cracked his knuckles, deciding it was time to get down to business. "Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before. Typical villain banter." He snarked. "Why don't you show me what you're all about, Snakes?"

"With pleassssure…" Reptile answered, before lowering his facemask and revealing a fanged mouth with a pair of long, curved fangs! Before Johnny Cage could comment on that, Reptile shot a spray of sickly-looking green fluid out of his mouth, which flew towards the movie star with deadly accuracy! Johnny was barely able to jump aside in time, and the deadly blot of green acid landed on the ground where he had been standing mere seconds before! There was an hissing sound, and a small cloud of white vapor rose from the place that had been hit, which quickly dissolved into a tarry substance! Johnny was not going to stop and think what would have happened to his face had that attack connected…

"Woah! Hey, what sort of stunt is this?" Johnny Cage asked in alarm. "This could have been dangerous…"

"Oh, I can assssure you, fool… thissss issss not my mosssst dangeroussss trick!" Reptile answered, before closing in with a quickness Johnny would hardly have thought possible from a human being! The reptilian assassin started to attack, trying to hit Johnny with a flurry of punches and open-palm strikes that reminded the movie star of a bunch of enraged snakes, and only his knowledge of martial arts allowed Johnny to avoid getting hit. He backstepped, trying to block his opponents' attacks, and as soon as he saw a slight opening, he dashed in and tried to hit Reptile with an high kick that left a few after-images in its wake!

"Well then, I guess I'll have to step up my game! Hah!" Johnny exclaimed, nailing Reptile with his patended Shadow Kick and sending the scaled assassin tumbling to the ground with a slight grunt. "So, how do you like that, freak?"

Reptile easily picked himself up again, rubbing his aching jaw. "Well, well… sssseemssss like I cannot afford to underesssstimate you, whelp…" he lisped, getting back into a fighting stance. "You sssseem to have ssssome ssssskillssss after all… but don't think for a moment that they will be ssssufficient to ssssave you from what awaitssss you… provided you can defeat me, that issss…"

Johnny was about to tell the snake-like assassin to shut his mouth and get serious… but his words became stuck in his mouth when Reptile's form faded in front of his eyes, and all Johnny could see was thin air where his opponent used to be. Thinking that his eyes were playing tricks on his, Johnny looked around in an attempt to see where Reptile had gone… and got a hard punch to the gut for his trouble, causing him to double over with a wheezing gasp of pain! Then, a roundhouse kick from an invisible attacker sent the movie star to the ground, a small trail of blood oozing down a busted lip.

* * *

><p>As the battle was taking place, another warrior stood among those that are participating in the tournament, however this one seemed to be blind as a red blindfold covered his eyes as a darkened expression was shown with one hand near the right side, near his katana while getting ready to draw it when the time came. This time Shang Tsung, you will not escape... he thought, his attention didn't seem to be focused on the fight but rather on the old man sitting on the throne. I'll make sure I free the souls of my warrior ancestors and make you pay for causing my blindess, even if I have to win the tournament just to fight you.<p>

It didn't take long before Tsung himself saw that the blind warrior was giving him a hateful look as a grin formed on his face as he recognized who this man was. "Well, well... if it isn't the blind swordman Kenshi..." he said, getting his old 'friend's ' attention. "It's been a long time since we last met hasn't it?"

"Enough of the chatter Sorceror!" exclaimed the man known as Kenshi, showing nothing but pure hatred on his face while Kano and his fellow Black Dragon member Tremor glanced at the warrior from where they stood, they didn't see him as much of a threat due to his blindness which would make him canon folder in the tournament, what they didn't know was that he had learned how to fight without the use of his eyes thanks to the katana in his possession helping him to heighton his other senses ever since he became blind. "The only reason why I am participating in your tournament, is so that I can achieve my goal to defeat you and free the souls you have consumed into your very being!"

"Is that so? I'm afraid that your chance at vengance will have to wait..." said the sorceror, having figured that Kenshi would come to his island precisely as he had hoped, though the fact remains is that there are many others from this realm who wished to participate and was looking forward to this moment to face him should he ever win against all of his opponents. "Don't worry, that doesn't mean you won't have the chance to fight in the Mortal Kombat tournament after all, the fate of all Earthrealm is at stake... you should be aware that Outworld has already won 9 previous tournaments, which brings the Emperor one step closer to achieving his prize."

All Kenshi could do was remain silent, gritting his teeth as Tsung had a good point especially as the fight between Cage and Reptile was still taking place, with the Outworld fighter proving more than capable of taking on the movie star who the sorceror had invited with the promise that he would gain the respect he deserves. Meanwhile, Raiden and Liu Kang saw the blind swordsman which made the God of Thunder rather concerned as the two witnessed the conversation close hand before experiencing a vision of Kenshi facing a losing battle against someone, he didn't know who it was but had a feeling it was connected to the strange visions he experienced previously. "Lord Raiden..." began Liu, yet Raiden closed his eyes as he needed to speak with Kenshi personally about what he hoped to gain.

"I understand how you feel, but you are not yet ready to face Shang Tsung..." he said, getting the attention of Kenshi and he was ready to draw out his sword should it be another trick from the Shang Tsung or his followers which caused the Thunder God to frown while letting out a small sigh. "Stand down, I am not here to harm you... I just wish to warn you that if you were to challenge him now, you will lose your life and your soul."

"Why are you telling me all this?" asked the swordsman, not so convinced right now especially as he refused to fall for a trick again after being fooled into pulling the sword out of its resting place by Shang Tsung himself then turned his attention to Liu Kang upon feeling his presence near Raiden's, making him even more caoucious.

"He is Lord Raiden, the God of Thunder and the protector of Earthrealm" answered Liu, standing by Raiden's side with a scowl, while he and Raiden saw that the Swordsman in question was blind, they remember as Tsung himself said, appearances can be decieving. "You are not the only one who has a grudge against Shang Tsung... My younger brother was killed at his hands."

Kenshi remained silent, but decided to let the two fighters in front of him have their say before he can confirm them as friend or foe. "Very well, you have my attention..." he replied, though he had a feeling that it is only a matter of time before the fight that was already occuring would come to an end and needed to be prepared for when he takes on his first opponent.

"That is good." Raiden answered. He took an appraising look at Kenshi, trying to get an idea of his capacities at least. "You must know that Mortal Kombat is the competition sanctioned by the Elder Gods themselves in order to protect the balance between the worlds. In Order to gain access to another World, the Emperor Shao Kahn and his servants would have to win ten Mortal Kombat tournaments in a row. As of now, in no small part because of the machinations of Shang Tsung, the Emperor's greatest sorceror, they have won Nine of them. This latest competition is the last one they need in order to reach their goal. We cannot let them win this one. The lives of billions of souls rest in the outcome of this tournament."

"You are telling me nothing I do not already know, God of Thunder." The blind swordsman answered. "What is it that vexes you so that you feel the need to warn me about? What did you mean when you said that I would lose both my life and my soul were I to face Shang Tsung now?"

"Those who go up against Shang Tsung face not one adversary, but a whole Legion of them." Raiden explained. "Shang Tsung learned the greatest of the dark arts of Magic from the Emperor himself, and when he defeats an opponent, he has the ability to claim his or her soul as his own. In this way, not only does Tsung add to his own power, he also acquires the ability to temporarily assume his fallen opponent's likeness, turning the victim's power against any other would-be challenger. Centuries of preying on unwary opponents' souls have empowered him to the point where an Head on attack on Shang Tsung would be sheer suicide."

Kenshi frowned noticeably as he heard the words of the God of Thunder, he still wanted revenge on Shang Tsung for taking his sight away, but he also realized that he would get nowhere by simply charging in. And it certainly wasn't in his interests to let Shang Tsung become even more powerful than he already was. From that point of view at least, he and Raiden had a common goal... But before Kenshi could answer, a sound was heard from the battle arena, where Johnny Cage and Reptile were still engaged in their fight... And it wasn't looking very good for the Movie star, who was having his fair share of trouble facing an invisible opponent. A Hard kick to the solar plexus sent Johnny to the ground, and he quickly tried to pick himself up again, breathing hard.

"Dammit... Looks like the rules are completely different here alright..." Cage muttered to himself. "Alright then, guess the kiddie gloves are off then. Time to show them that Johnny Cage did not get where he is because of a pretty face!"

Johnny took a careful Look at the floor, trying to see where Reptile could be. While the Reptilian assassin had become invisible, he was still made of flesh and bones, and therefore was bound to make noise and move things as he walked. Relying on his other senses, something which he had learned when he had first taken up martial arts, Johnny tensed a little... And managed to feel the faintest of noises coming from his right side! Quickly, he launched into a powerful right cross on the place that only seemed to be occupied by thin air... And when his fist collided with an invisible opponent's face, he knew he had made the right call! Knocked out of his invisibility, Reptile grunted in pain and fell on the floor, before slowly picking himself up again, and rubbing his sore jaw.

"You... You sssssaw through my camouflage?" He hissed in anger. "Thissss hasss rarely ever happened to me! How did a mere Earthrealm fool get the better of me?"

"This Earthrealm fool has quite a few Tricks up his sleeve, Snakes!" Cage replied. "If you want, I can show you more of them! And no stuntmen involved!"

Reptile took a fighting stance once again and got ready to continue the fight... But this time, Shang Tsung clapped his hands twice and smiled thinly, calling for the two fighters' attention. "That will do for now. This was to be a simple demonstration fight, in order to let everyone get an idea what they can expect in this competition." He stated. "You may cease hostilities, gentlemen. Your next fight will be decided shortly."

"Of coursssse, masssster." Reptile answered, feeling somewhat irritated at being denied his chance to get even with the fool who had wounded his pride. But he knew better than to push his luck. If he was to save his people from extinction, that meant he had to swallow his pride and obey orders."

"He got Caged!" laughed Cage, to him... He felt like this was an easy victory though he is hoping that there would be more of a challenge if he was to become more well known in this competition. "That's it! Haha! Oh Yeah! I am so pretty!" he was acting cocky as he approached each of the other participating combatants one by one. "and I'm taking you down, I'm taking you down, I'm taking you out, I'm taking you out and I'm taking you out..." he stopped when he got to where Sonya stood, still finding her smoking hot, especially in the outfit she was currently wearing. "... For dinner!"

"Ugh!" she muttered, finding him rather annoying as she had more important matters at the very moment as Tsung's voice was heard calling him back to the arena.

"Now for your second challenge, Mr. Cage." he said, revealing who Cage's second opponent in the tournament was and this time, the real fight begins. "Behold, Baraka!"

Needless to say, Raiden and Liu Kang both remained silent as Baraka was a Tarkatan Warrior, a race of mutanted hybrids of demon and mortal races that served in Shao Kahn's army, with Baraka as the leader of the hordes and the strongest among them. However to Cage, he thought it was just a guy in a costume much like with Reptile before him. "Mmmm, ok... Nice makeup, but is it reeeally necessary?"

Remaining silent, Baraka brought out both of the razor sharp blades that were resting within his wrists, causing Cage to look on in awe at how he is able to do so. "Whoa!" he said, not knowing what else to say while wishing he was part of the movie he was previously making.

"They will taste your flesh!" Baraka finally spoke as the fight against Cage was finally beginning to take place, this time he will succeed where Reptile has failed and will bring the Emperor one step closer to conquering Earthrealm.

* * *

><p>As the battle began, Reptile stood before Shang Tsung as the Sorcerer had some kind of task for him, especially concerning Princess Kitana and one of the combatants, the Shaolin Monk Liu Kang. Recalling the moment where he had killed Liu's little brother Chan, consuming his soul afterwards in order to draw the 'so-called Chosen One' out and make him participate in his competition. "I want you to keep an eye on Princess Kitana and keep her away from Liu Kang, our Emperor would want to ensure his daughter remains safe..." he informed his bodyguard with a serious expression on his face.<p>

Without a word, Reptile understood the task at hand and went invisible as there was something about Liu Kang that makes Shang Tsung rather interested but now wasn't the time to question that or why. Meanwhile Kano was awaiting for another member of the Black Dragon gang to arrive with a new recruit after having busted him out of prison not too long ago though at the same time, was looking forward to facing Sonya in the tournament after having killed her partner before reaching the island.

As he heard footsteps, Kano grinned as he didn't need to look behind him to know who was approaching. "What took you so long... Tremor?" He asked in an Australian Ascent, the red eye on his face glowing even brighter.

Approaching Kano was a mysterious looking person wearing a light brown sleeveless ninja garb with a black bodysuit, though he looked quite tall and muscled for a supposedly fast and agile fighter. "My apologies, Kano. With all these Special Forces dogs all over the place, one can never be too careful, can he?" he said sarcastically, an ironic smile gracing his face under the mouthpiece he was wearing. "Anyway, I've taken out a few of those fools already. They will soon learn we of the Black Dragon are not to be trifled with."

"Very good." Kano said with a smirk. "Well, for now, it looks like that old geezer wants to test that Hollywood prima donna. What he sees in that guy, I do not know, but at least he's not all talk. Personally, I am looking forward to see how Sonya Blade does. I'm willing to bet my remaining eye that she's itching to meet me. Heheheheee..."

"You can have your grudge match with Sonya Blade. I, on the other hand, look forward to meeting Major Jackson Briggs and put him out of commission." Tremor answered. "I certainly haven't forgotten his face from when we were prisoners of the Special Forces... and I am eager to pay him back! Therefore, try not to interfere!"

"Good. As long as you don't interfere in my grudge match with Sonya, you can do whatever you want." Kano answered, sending a nasty glare towards his fellow Black Dragon member. "For now, let's enjoy the sight of this Cage guy getting sliced by that monster."

Tremor smirked as he directed his attention back to the battle between the Hollywood movie star and the Tarkatan elite enforcer. Baraka had his wrist-blades out, and was approaching Johnny with a wide smile painted upon his gruesome face, showing several rows of sharp, long teeth. Johnny was trying to bide his time for now, staying away from those deadly looking blades, and trying to throw the deadly warrior off his game with some witty snarking.

* * *

><p>"My blades will find your heart!" Baraka roared, slashing in a vertical line and aiming for Johnny's face. The Hollywood movie star managed to dodge at the last moment, feeling the cold blade hiss past his ear and slash the floor, where it set off a few sparkles.<p>

"Hey, watch it with those things, you idiot! Somebody might get hurt!" Johnny exclaimed, keeping his eyes on the Tarkatan's deadly natural weapons while at the same time beginning to wonder what on Earth he had gotten himself into.

"You're right, somebody will get hurt!" Baraka exclaimed, going in for another thrustthat Johnny managed to swat away, only to answer with a series a punches to Baraka's chest!

"Well, sorry to inform you... but that somebody isn't gonna be me!" he stated, before delivering a punishing side kick to Baraka's solar plexus! The Tarkatan warrior staggered backwards, but managed to remain upright, smirking at Johnny in a mocking way.

"THat was supposed to hurt? I have taken worse!" Baraka sneered, before launching a powerful spark-like projectile by scraping his arm blades together! The strange projectile hissed through the air and barely missed Johnny's head, instead scratching him in the cheek, and causing a bleeding cut to appear under his left eye. The energy blade continued on, slicing a part of the arena walls.

"Damn, this guy plays for keeps..." Johnny murmured to himself. "Gotta work out something if I want to get out of here in one piece..."

* * *

><p>As the battle was taking place, Shang Tsung grinned as he saw how well Cage was doing against Baraka, who was the strongest of the Tarkatans in his entire race and the fact that a mere human could hold their own against him piped the sorcerror's interest, he then turned his attention towards the Lin Kuei Warrior Sub-Zero, he had been persuaded alongside his fellow clan-members to participate in the tournament and at the same time acquired their assistance, commenting to himself that should no defenders of Earthrealm should ever reach the finals due to some... tragic turn of events, Outworld would win the 10th tournament which will please his Emperor.<p>

Then he glanced at the undead Hell Spector known as Scorpion, formerly of the long deceased Shiriyu Clan, the only known rival of the Lin Kuei, standing next to the Netherealm Sorcerror and ally Quan Chi as both Sorcerors know that Scorpion's only reason for returning to the world of the living was to get revenge on Sub-Zero for killing him back when he was a human known as Hanzo Hasashi. However, Tsung also convinced Scorpion that if the warriors of Earthrealm kill Sub-Zero, he would never have his chance to get revenge so he must ally with the warriors of Outworld and then he can personally kill Sub-Zero later.

As of right now, he sees only five warriors of this realm as the most dangerous opponents that he must eliminate... Those are Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Liu Kang, Kenshi and the Native American warrior known as Nightwolf. While Kenshi is blind, he seems to have gotten stronger since their last encounter and the fact remains it would be rather interesting to see how much he has improved first-hand should he ever make it to the finals. The downside is he can't act immediately due to the prescence of the Thunder God Raiden on his island so for now the best thing to do is wait for the right moment for his warriors to strike as the Emperor will not tolerate failure.

There was one spy sent by Shao Kahn himself, someone who was among those who are participating in the tournament itself and is ordered to take part not only to ensure Outworld's victory but also to keep an eye on Quan Chi of all people, while the Sorcerror from the Netherealm has offered his assistance in helping to conquer Earthrealm, Kahn had to be careful so should there be any treacherous actions on his ally's part, she is to kill him with extreme prejudice and show him no mercy.

Of course, Kano and Tremor had gained a new member for their gang to better make them a lethal force but at the same time, they will prove to be an excellent addtion to Kahn's forces as the Leader of the Black Dragon had personally killed Sonya's partner and it was the only reason why the female member of the Special Forces was brought to the island, along with the fact that she had no choice but to do so as Jackson "Jax" Briggs was also held captive within the prisons which means she needs to fight in order to save his life which Tsung can make this work to his advantage.

"Is she here yet?" asked Kano, hoping that their newest recuit had arrived without too much trouble though Tremor remained silent and gave a simple nod, yet it wasn't that easy to bring members of their gang to the island without being detected as Kano broke his fellow Dragon out of jail prior to their arrival so they can lure Sonya and Jax into a trap that they had been planning for quite sometime but it wasn't until having met Shang Tsung that they could now set their plan into motion. "Excellent, the more the merrier as I always say."

"Are you sure we can trust this sorcerror?"

Kano shook his head at his henchman's response and closed his human eye while pretending to think this through. "Nah, we are only helping him until we get paid" he replied, an evil grin forming on his face as he had a bad feeling that they might be betrayed should Tsung get what he wants for his precious emperor. "Either that or we get our chance in terminating Sonya Blade and Jackson Brigs, whichever comes first... By the way, what is the name of our newest member?"

"Her name is Kira..." answered Tremor, revealing the identity of the newest addtion to their gang which would serve to help Kano in their organized crimespree and elimate all their enemies. "I found her in a cave at Afghanistand having once sold weapons to terrorist organizations under the diguise of a male at least... until her true gender was revealed and she killed the ones who hunted her down... She is quite skilled in combat."

This in turn made the Black Dragon leader grin sadistically at having learned of the information on their recruit. "I'm starting to like her already, I look forward to meeting her and seeing if she is indeed worthy of becoming part of our gang" he replied to the ninja with a small laugh as the fellow Black Dragon member bowed down to his leader.

Raiden remained silent at he watched Cage's battle against Baraka, while Shang Tsung had stopped the previous match against Reptile, he wondered if the movie star had what it takes to be a true defender of Earthrealm and the fact remains that he managed to last this long against his current opponenent makes him even more curious. _I wonder..._ he thought to himself, though he was still confused about the visions he was shown and the cause of his amulet cracking, something he will need to discuss with Fujin, a fellow God and friend which Liu Kang showed respect to much like he does with Raiden…

* * *

><p>The battle between Cage and Baraka had gotten quite intense. The ferocious Tarkatan warrior seemed to be getting the upper hand on the Hollywood actor and martial artist, delivering a powerful kick to his side… and then executing an arc-shaped slash with the cruely barbed blades protruding from his forearms! Johnny managed to dodge at the last possible moment, and the razor-sharp edge traced a small cut on Johnny's cheekbone, drawing blood! Johnny quickly reacted, executing a flawless round house sweep that hit Baraka's ankles and caused him to lose his balance and drop to the ground in a daze! Snarling in anger, the mighty Tarkatan warrior stood up and rubbed his blades on each other, emitting an ear-splitting keening sound and shooting what looked like a silver energy projectile that flew through the air and hit Johnny in the chest, knocking the wind out of him! With a pained gasp, Cage staggered backwards and fell to the ground, trying to regain his bearings… and seeing that his opponent was beginning to feel the effects of all the hits he had taken, Baraka decided he could finish him off right then and there, and lunged in to attack!<p>

"You are mine!" Baraka hissed in triumph, as he tried to pierce Cage's heart with his arm blades.

But Cage was not going to go down that easily. Before the Tarkatan warlord could get too close, the Hollywood actor got away, leaving Baraka's blades to slash at thin air, and stood on guard once again, before bringing his arms round, driven by fighting instinct alone. All of a sudden, the Hollywood star felt a strange tingling sensation in his arm… and a glowing sphere of green Energy appeared in the palm of his hand, flying towards Baraka like a bullet! Baraka widened his eyes in absolute surprise and shock before the glowing sphere struck him in the chest, hard enough to propel Baraka off his feet and send him Flying several feet away from Johnny, before dropping him to the ground in a stunned heap! The Tartakan warrior slowly climbed back to his feet and wheezed several times, not daring to believe what he had just witnessed – the Earth warrior had actually been able to summon ki Energy and use it against Baraka? This was unpredicted to say the least… Baraka had never imagined Johnny would be capable of that!

Johnny himself was shocked that he could do that… he had acted on instinct alone, and had simply done the first thingthat had gone through his mind in order to defend himself from Baraka's attack. He never expected that he would be able to do something that outlandish… and this was no special effect to boot!

"What the… what the heck was that?" Johnny asked himself. "How did I do that? Well… I have to say it was pretty cool though! By the way, man, I love your blades! My producer had got to meet you. We're doing Tommy Scissorsfist, and…"

On the sidelines, Raiden frowned slightly and nodded, as Baraka snarled in frustration. It seemed that Johnny's power was beginning to awaken… but any consideration got cut short when Shang Tsung nodded and motioned to Johnny to give a coup de grace to Baraka.

"Congratulations Mr. Cage!" the ancient sorceror began, he was rather impressed with Cage's skill as a combatant but now the time has come. "Now Finish him!"

"Finish him? Heh. Yeah, right." Johnny answered. "I think I've already taken him down, old man. Unless you need your eyes checked, you can see that he's on the ground and I'm not."

Shang Tsung frowned slightly. "Kill him!" he went on, causing Johnny and several other contestants to widen their eyes in surprise and shock at the word kill though Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Quan Chi, Reptile, Cyrax, Sekor, Kitana, Jade, Skarlett, Kano, Sonya, Tremor, Kenshi, Liu Kang, Nightwolf, Raiden and the masked Guards were unaffected by that as Tsung expects Cage to end Baraka's life permanently and remained completely silent to see how it turns out.

"Woah, woah, woah! Wait a second! I'm not gonna kill anyone!" he answered in surprise.

Unimpressed, Tsung had to comply with Cage's decision. "Very well..." he said, getting up from his throne before deciding to end things for the time being and allowing the rest of the combatants to get some rest. "The Tournament will resume at dawn!"

"What, that's it? Really?" asked Cage, the masked guards approached the defeated Baraka and retrieve him from the tournament arena and he turned around to see that Sonya was nowhere to be seen at all which disappointed him since he found her surprisingly attractive. "Now where did that hottie go?"

It wasn't before long that Cage was approached by Liu Kang and Raiden, with the God of Thunder quite intrigued by the fact that a normal movie actor like Cage could fight off two opponents from Outworld despite being unaware of the true risks that the tournament has in store. "You've fought well" he complimented the actor while needing to be certain that what he had witnessed was indeed true before he can fully confirm.

"Thanks" replied Cage, fixing his sunglasses for a brief moment then he took a quick glance of Raiden's Japanese hat. "Nice hat."

Needless to say, Liu was not too happy with Cage's response, knowing that this is no joking matter at all even if he was lucky enough to survive two battles. "You should be more respectful of Lord Raiden" he said to the cocky movie star. "He is the Protector of Earthrealm, the God of Thunder, the..." he never got to finish what he was going to say as Cage interupted, believing it to be some kind of act.

"Look, I don't know what kind of role-playing you guys are into but count me out."

"This tournament is more than a chance for personal glory, we are fighting for the very survival of Earthrealm" Liu needed to make Cage see that it is a very serious situation they are al in, especially as the Shaolin Temples had told him stories about the tournament and how Outworld has already won the previous 9 tournaments ever since the defeat of the Legendary Shaolin Warrior known as the Great-Kung Lao, who was slain in the first of the 9 tournaments in the final round against the current champion, a loyal servant of the Emperor Shao Kahn. "Our realm has already lost the previous 9 tournaments of Mortal Kombat and our ultimate fate depends on our victory."

Cage wasn't paying that much attention to the details. "What are you talking about?" he asked the Shaolin Monk in front of him.

"Your last opponent was Tarkatan, he was born with those blades" Raiden answered Cage's question for Liu, though at the same time the actor was still not believing anything that was being told to him even as they speak.

"Yeah..." Cage replied mockingly, thinking it was a real joke being played on him and brushed off the comment but was still rather impressed with how Baraka was able to bring them out from his forearms without feeling any sort of pain. "Those things were real!"

"He represents Outworld, had you lost the Emperor Shao Kahn would have come one step closer to physically absorbing our world into his" explained Raiden, remaining completely calm as Baraka was being brought back to rest up and recover from his injuries.

"Outworld, yeah right, right..." said Cage, again not buying it.

"The Elder Gods created the Mortal Kombat tournament to give Earthrealm a chance to defend itself" Raiden spoke once again, he was well aware that the Elder Gods made foolish decisions in the past but most of the time, he did not question their choices. "But if we lose this time, Shao Kahn will conquer all."

"Dun Dun Dunnn! Look, guys I'm an actor. I save the world for the cameras, if this Emperor is really a threat, call the military" Cage mocked them once more, though the two and especially Kenshi, who was listening in to the whole conversation which made him rather angered at how this guy thinks it is nothing more than a game, weren't exactly thrilled with this response but before they had a chance to continue the conversation, Cage decided to see where Sonya had gone to. "Me? I've got a date with a blonde. Chiao!"

With a light pat on Raiden's arm, Cage took his leave in search for Sonya and the Thunder God watched silently as the actor left. "What do you see in him?" Liu asked Raiden, he had no idea as to why the well respected Protector of Earthrealm has interest in the cocky movie star to begin with.

"He is a hero, Liu Kang, though he may not yet know it" he replied, his arms being crossed as Cage had some potential in becoming a great defender of Earthrealm. Liu on the otherhand, didn't say a single word, he did not have anything against the God of Thunder and could only hope that he was right not only for their sake but for the sake of their entire realm.

While this was happening, Kenshi was still showing anger on his face despite his blindess and reflected on when he first met Shang Tsung at the legendary temple known as the House of Pekara, a place of worship built upon the tomb of ancient warrior kings. Needless to say, it was in the labyrinth below the structure that the sorcerror, disguised as a person called Song, fooled the young swordsman into releasing the souls of the kings with the false promise of helping him to prove his superiority in kombat. Tsung had successfully stolen these souls and left Kenshi to die, the cursed ordeal resulted in Kenshi's blindness but the sword which was the sacred resting place of the warrior kings let him out of the depths and saved his life, earning the name Sento.

After he had learned that the warrior kings themselves turned out to be his ancestors, Kenshi now has to redeem himself with one mission; to free the spirits of his great ancient family from their unholy captor. Yet the God of Thunder had warned him that if he were to challenge Tsung right now, he would lose his life and his soul, making his mission in vain. _Mark my words Sorcerer, I don't care if you have managed to make yourself stronger since our previous encounter and even though I am blind... I will improve myself and once I make it to the finals, I will slay you and free the souls of my ancestors... _he thought, there was a large part of him that felt like Raiden was right and while he cannot see, Sento had guided him and had shown him the way to use his other senses in kombat over the years. _This I promise you! _

A/Ns: Well, here is my fic back in the making and I apologize for taking long (as well as for deciding to split Cage's chapter into two parts) since I had real life stuff to deal with and this includes college, so my updates will be slower due to needing to focus on my work until I graduate but don't worry, I will try my best to continue as quickly as possible. Other than that, enjoy and I would like to thank Lily for helping me get more of the story done.


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